The NEW Magic Mountain

[cdskier]

Maybe he is Hugh, joined yesterday!

Hugh's evil twin!

 

[Old man of the mountain]

It’s a new DRIVE because it was found to be worn out by accident when the haul rope was discovered at the last minute to be in need of replacement ! These are things that should not be surprises where they find themselves to be scambling to get this work done in a rushed fashion imperiling peoples safety !
what don’t you understand about that ?

 

[skithetrees]

Theres no question whether Red should’ve stopped running or not. You could see the chairs swinging from the parking lot yet they continued to run for a good amount of time before shutting down. The question is whether the order to keep it going was an in the moment operator call or one from higher up. Hopefully the coming update is transparent in what transpired. Wish I took a video because they were swinging pretty intensely and if I were on the chair I would have been worried for my safety (not an engineer so maybe it wasn’t as dangerous as it seemed).

Precisely why I am pissed. They kept running as chairs were coming around the top bull wheel and nearly hitting the first downhill tower. Chairs between the final towers were bouncing probably close to five feet. I got off the lift and told ski patrol and the top lift attendant to slow it down. I was met with confusion and no response. That’s concerning.

 

[Old man of the mountain]

I’m not Hugh but I respect him a lot more for speaking up then the magic cult apologists who think magic can do no wrong !

 

[Newpylong]

The surging has a direct link back to maintenance or lack there of because it wasn’t noticed if not for the haul rope emergency replacement which also wasn’t noticed till the last minute causing them to scramble to get it running for the holiday!

none of this would have happened if

A. They had a reliable second lift to the summit

B. The red lift was properly maintained and inspected constantly as any 52 year lift should be on a constant basis.

again don’t buy a ski mountain if you don’t have a substantial amount of capital to throw at the inevitable emergencies that arise

Sorry, this along with most of your other comments regading this and other Magic issues in this thread are baloney and not worth addressing because they are so far from reality.

Concerns with lift safety? Absolutely, but don't pretend to know how to operate a mountain when clearly you just have ideas how to spend someone else's money.

 

[skithetrees]

It’s a new DRIVE because it was found to be worn out by accident when the haul rope was discovered at the last minute to be in need of replacement ! These are things that should not be surprises where they find themselves to be scambling to get this work done in a rushed fashion imperiling peoples safety !
what don’t you understand about that ?

I will give you this. None of these things should have been a surprise.

 

[Old man of the mountain]

Exactly. But the new drive and shaft and haul rope were not discovered to be in need of replacement until the last minute

this is where ONGOING preventative maintenance is critical especially when sealing with lifts dating back to the infancy of skiing in America

 

[Old man of the mountain]

I’ve been riding the red lift since 1972 and I’ve watched the mountain from that period through mega magic through bankruptcy and through the parade of idiots that have run it since 1996.

and do you think this investment group had any idea what they were doing when they took it on ? They didn’t and they’d admit that.

that said I think Geoff is a good man with good intentions

just not enough capital to do it properly.

one more season like this and they’re done

 

[ne_skier]

I’m not Hugh but I respect him a lot more for speaking up then the magic cult apologists who think magic can do no wrong !

every single person on this forum believes that improper operation is at fault for what happened yesterday. Suggesting that red does not need to be replaced and that old lifts are not inherently death traps is not being a “cult apologist”. There is no need for your armchair quarterbacking here.

 

[cdskier]

Exactly. But the new drive and shaft and haul rope were not discovered to be in need of replacement until the last minute

this is where ONGOING preventative maintenance is critical especially when sealing with lifts dating back to the infancy of skiing in America

Infancy of skiing in America? There were literally hundreds of lifts installed before Red. The first chairlift in America was installed 35 years before Red.

Again, being old has nothing to do with the issue yesterday. A surging drive can happen in any new drive installation regardless of lift age. The major issue is that it wasn't stopped immediately when it happened from the reports we've seen from people that were there.

At least Hugh posts somewhat accurate (if a bit vague at times) information. Your posts are just filled with made up stuff you seemed to have pulled out of nowhere.

 

[Old man of the mountain]

I consider the 60s the infancy of modern skiing in America. The original blue/black lift was installed in 1961 as a REINSTALL AND RED FOLLOWED 10 years later. Prior to the wave of mountains opening in the early 60s most mountains were small rope tow operations

so yes I consider the sixties into the early70s as the infancy of modern skiing and lifts in America

 

[PAabe]

Oldest 2 lifts in the world from sun valley still operating at Mt. Eyak and Boyne. 30s being the infancy of skiing. There are and handful from the 40s and 50s still around, dozens and dozens from the 60s, Red is from the 70s which isn't even super old compared to some

 

[Old man of the mountain]

Aspen was 1947

sun valley maybe earlier

but skiing popularity and lift technology didn’t take off in any substantial way until the 60s

that is when the industry boomed.

 

[Old man of the mountain]

And btw cd skier being old has EVERYTHING to do with EVERY issue that has occurred with magics lifts for the last 25 years.

but Also to do with maintenance.

and also metal stresses, parts break down etc.

nothing is built to last forever. So I have to ask what information do you have that lifts were built to run in perpetuity ?

 

[PAabe]

Sunlight Colorado has Aspen's original lifts

 

[Old man of the mountain]

And I’m sure sunlight rigidly maintains them Like mad rivers single which they sunk millions into.

Red lift has been neglected since the mountain went bankrupt 30 years ago.

if they are dead set on keeping it as some sort of “legacy” chair maybe they should sink one to 2 million into it.
until then I wouldn’t get on that thing again if you put a gun to my head

 

[cdskier]

Sun Valley was 1936. The east's first chair was at Gunstock in 1937. The first chair at Stowe was installed in 1940. MRG 1948.

We apparently have different definitions of "infancy". I'd consider those early years the infancy of skiing. By the time you hit the 70s (when Red was originally installed), you're well into the upswing in popularity and "booming" so really hard for me to consider that still the "infancy" phase.

And btw cd skier being old has EVERYTHING to do with EVERY issue that has occurred with magics lifts for the last 25 years.

What exactly do you consider old then? If the issues for the last 25 years are all caused by age, then 25 years ago Red was only 25 years old. Do you consider that "old" for a fixed grip lift?

but Also to do with maintenance.

This is much more of an issue rather than age itself.

and also metal stresses, parts break down etc.

nothing is built to last forever. So I have to ask what information do you have that lifts were built to run in perpetuity ?

I agree. But I never said anything about a lift running forever. If the towers and foundations themselves are sound, then replacing other key parts as needed can vastly extend the life expectancy of a lift. I'm sure that most of the other lifts that are 50+ years old have also had a substantial amount of components replaced over the years.

 

[Old man of the mountain]

Magics red lift sat rotting and rusting from 91-97 basically during bankruptcy and was basically unmaintained until these guys took over. So reds age is like that of a 50 year old alcoholic that never took care of himself whereas mad rivers single is a 75 year old who never took a drink

 

[zoomzoom]

hauling rope diameter and lay lengths are measured at multiple locations on an annual basis, and these results are typically compared to previous year's results in order to recognize trending and develop a plan to retire the rope. ropes do lose diameter and lay lengths increase over time as a new rope settles during use, this is typical and expected. modern ropes with poly cores separate the strands, thus eliminating inner strand nicking due to wire contact as the rope "bends" around the drive and return sheaves. this is opposed to hemp cores previously in service, "core collapse" wasn't uncommon back then. with proper maintenance these new ropes will last decades unless subjected to physical damage i.e. from faulty rigging, lightning strikes, sliding grips, deropements, or bullet damage. no one likes surprises, especially an unplanned haul rope replacement. this is because after spending 10's of thousands of dollars, there is no appreciable/noticeable customer benefit.

 

[ThatGuy]

If you thought Hugh was bad get ready for OldFartoftheMountain